International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Volume 118 No. 8 2018, 377-381

ISSN: 1311-8080 (printed version); ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.ijpam.eu
Special Issue
ijpam.eu

Fault Detection in Overhead Power Transmission

G.S.Nandakumar V.Sudha
Associate Professor, Department of CSE, Assistant Professor-II, Department of CSE,
Kumaraguru College of Technology, Kumaraguru College of Technology,
Coimbatore, India Coimbatore, India
[email protected] [email protected]

D.Aswini
Assistant Professor, Department of CSE,
Kumaraguru College of Technology,
Coimbatore, India
[email protected]

Abstract— Transmission of electricity through over head transmission lines need to be maintained properly with at most
transmission lines is a widely used method for power care. Also, in power transmission, power loss (technical loss)
transmission from one location to another. Failure is a critical due to this transmission is 22.5% [9]. This loss is due to the
issue in this essential service. The location of the fault must be energy dissipation in the conductor (transformer, sub
identified for recovery from the failure. Though there is human
transmission line and distribution line).
effort involved in fault detection, technology assisted solutions
can save time and resources. In this paper, some of the potential Though regular maintenance is carried out periodically,
strategies for fault detection are proposed for effective detection some unexpected issues arises due to trees, wind, construction,
failure in power transmission. and corrosion caused by the wind coming through the sea
Keywords— Power failure, Transmission line failure, Theft water in the overhead transmission lines near the sea shore.
detection Though, manpower is allocated for maintaining the
I. INTRODUCTION transmission lines, it is difficult and a time consuming process.
Mostly for tracking the point of failure, one has to climb
To transmit the electricity from the point of generation to multiple posts (towers) across the transmission line which is a
the end user, an interconnected network of electric grid is cumbersome activity.
used. The network of electric grid consists of countable
number of generating stations, high-voltage transmission lines
and distribution lines. We know that when a low voltage
power is transmitted over long distance, the power loss we
acquire will be more. Hence, the electricity generated from
various sources is stepped up before transmission. This
stepped up power is transmitted to the substations through
transmission network. In the substation the high voltage power
is stepped down for various purposes according to the needs.
From the substation, low voltage electricity suitable for end
users can be distributed. This flow is described in detail in
Fig.1.
One of the most preferable methods used for transmitting
power is through overhead lines. Especially in developing
countries like India, about 72% of the power transmission is
by overhead transmission lines. As the majority of the income
is through agriculture or industries, uninterrupted power
supply is needed. To provide uninterrupted power supply,
Fig 1. Power Transmission Flow

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One reason for faults in the transmission lines may be due training data which is difficult to get the actual data, also the
to sparking due to the failure of the insulators at the towers. output of the system solely depends on the training set.
Usually, the failure in the transmission lines between a
In this paper, we propose an efficient solution based on
transformer and the targets (factories, homes etc.,) is easily
Internet of Things (IoT) and also propose the other modes of
traceable when compared to the HT (high tension)
communication.
transmission lines over long distances spanning to hundreds of
towers. Hence, an efficient and effective solution is necessary III. PROPOSED SYSTEM
to overcome this problem.
Different approaches could be adopted for dealing with the
In this paper, two solutions are proposed for detecting transmission line failure and power theft. A few of them are
transmission line failure in over head power transmission line. described in detail in this section.
One of the solutions is based on IoT (Internet of Things) while
A. IoT Based Approach
there are other methods based upon measuring the voltage
drop. The aim is to detect the fault in the transmission line and
intimate to the server about the fault location. To detect the
II. EXISTING SYSTEM
accurate fault in the transmission lines, the sensors namely
Transformer is an important equipment in the transmission smoke detector, flame detector, Spark detector and UV
of electricity. Continuous monitoring is a crucial activity for detectors are used. The sensors sense the power characteristics
extending the life of a transformer. Also a transformer is of the transmission line.
costly resource and its failure cannot be rectified immediately
A flame detector is one that detects and represents the
compared to other components in the transmission medium.
presence of a flame or fire, allowing flame detection. It is
In [6],[2],[4] a method using Global System for Mobile
shown in Fig.2. Ultraviolet flame sensors, near IR array flame
communication (GSM) and microcontroller is proposed to
monitor the failure of the transformer and is communicated to sensors, infrared flame sensors and IR3 flame detection
the intended personnel. Here, a comparator is used for sensors are the most prominent types of flame sensors.
Infrared flame sensor is incorporated in the proposed system.
comparing the input and output voltages (phases) of the
It is designed to work within the infrared spectral band. When
transformer. If any significant drop is found it is intimated
an explosion occurs, certain hot gasses will emit patterns in
through SMS (Short Message Service) to the officials.
the infrared region, which can then be used for analysis.
In [7], a method is proposed for detecting leakage and theft
of power in transmission. The proposed method is
implemented using GSM and microcontroller. It is
implemented as a two subsystems where one subsystem is
used for detecting power leakage while the other is used for
identifying theft. Power leakage or line failure is detected by
measuring the voltage difference between power transmission
and reception. While the theft in the proposed system is found
by measuring the total power consumed and comparing it with
the total power transmitted. Difference in the parameters is
Fig 2.Infrared flame sensor
intimated to the electrical officers through SMS.
A smoke detector (Gas Sensor) shown in Fig.3. is a sensor
In [3], wireless sensor network is used for detecting and
that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. The
locating the failure in the power line. In this paper, the power
proposed system uses the MQ-2 is a flammable gas and smoke
transmission line is divided by wireless sensor networks.
sensor detects the concentrations of combustible gas in the air
Periodically, it measures the energy difference and deviation
and outputs its reading as an analog voltage. The smoke sensor
any is informed to the concerned officials. This proposed
has a built-in potentiometer that allows the user to adjust the
system is especially used for detecting asymmetrical faults.
sensor‟s sensitivity to the required accuracy level.
In [8], Artificial Neural Network is used for power failure
detection. But, neural network requires training and the
training may not be fully done. In [5], Support Vector
Machine (SVM) is used for training data. In [1], surveys of all
papers concerned with power transmission failure are
surveyed.
From the above survey it is inferred that the most of the Fig 3.Smoke sensor
proposed methods are using GSM-SMS as the communication The sensor outputs a voltage that is proportional to the
medium. Along with this, the interruption caused by the nature concentration of smoke/gas. The relationship between voltage
in sensing the required information by the sensor is not dealt and gas concentration is shown in the Fig.4.
with. Also, artificial intelligence technique used requires

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Fig. 6. GSM Module

With the use of this GSM module, when a fault is

detected by all the sensors, the same information is
Fig 4. Relation between voltage and gas communicated to the central authority by means of an SMS
notification. On reception of the information, the authority
The UV (Ultra Violet) detector can be used to sense the notifies the concerned workman to fix the issue in the location
spark or heat produced by short circuiting during across from which the SMS is received.
phase/neutral or insulator failure at the tower. It is capable of
detecting fires and explosions in 3 to 4 milliseconds. The UV C. Architecture of Proposed System
detector works by detecting the UV radiation emitted at the The following Fig.7. shows the architecture of the proposed
instant of ignition. As the UV detector sensor can also sense system.
other UV sources, a time delay can be included to prevent
false inferences. A UV sensor is shown in Fig.5.

Fig 5.UV sensor

B. GSM Module Fig. 7. Proposed System

GSM Modules are one of the commonly used

communication modules used in most of the countries around The various sensors are connected to the microcontroller.
the world. The microcontroller processes the data, and checks for any
A GSM module is shown in Fig.6. The GSM module is fault like spark, theft, failure etc. in transmission line based on
used to establish communication between a microprocessor/ the data received. If any abnormal condition is detected, the
microcontroller and the GSM system. GSM module consists microcontroller will communicate the same to the concerned
of a GSM modem assembled together with power supply authorities for further actions.
circuit and communication interfaces (like RS-232, USB, etc) For communication, GSM module can be incorporated. On
for computer. To activate the communication with the reception of the Alert SMS, the authority may take further
network, it requires a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card actions. By this, the actual location of the transmission line
just like mobile phones. It also has an IMEI (International failure can be determined.
Mobile Equipment Identity) number similar to mobile phones
for identification purpose. The values from a single sensor may not be more accurate.
For example, the UV detector may sense the rays from natural
The GSM Module needs AT commands, for interacting sources like lightening may provide a positive signal. Hence,
with the processor or controller, which are communicated we say that a fault has occurred only when the values from
through serial communication. These commands are sent by combination of sensors are above the preset threshold value.
the controller/processor.

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D. Other Approaches REFERENCES

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