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CHAPTER 2
THEORY AND FAULT LOCATION ESTIMATION
2.1. Literature review
Sibisagar.B, Surya.V.R, VigneshVijayaraghavan, Dr.SuriyaKrishnaan
proposed[7]. “Self-Regulating Line Fault Detection & Its Location. In Transmission
Lines, “Transmission line faults are one of the main causes of power outages and
damage to power transfer equipment. When a transmission line transmits voltage over
the desired voltage, voltage below the desired voltage, or with no current flowing
between any two places, one of three things can happen: a fault. Each of these line
fault issues is handled separately in the proposed system. The brain is a
microcontroller called Arduino UNO of this system, where it regulates how the
system as a whole operates. Continuous measurements of voltage and current are
made using voltage sensors and current sensors accordingly. The system is set up so
that any deviation from the upper and lower limits of these crucial parameters will be
instantly reported to the relevant electrical board, allowing for the taking of
preventative measures to limit existing harm. GSM can be used to send these alarm
messages.
Prof. Sanket Singhania, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
Department, Shivajirao S. Jondhale College of Engineering, Dombivli (E), India [4].
His proposed project is to determine the distance of underground cable fault from the
base station in kilometers and displayed over the internet. Underground cable system
is a common followed in major areas in Metro cities. While a fault occurs for some
reason, at that time the fixing process related to that particular cable is difficult due to
exact unknown location of the fault in the cable. This Technology is used to find out
the exact location of the fault and to send data in graphical format to our website
using a GSM module at the same time it displays on the LCD screen. The project uses
the standard theory of Ohms law, i.e., when a low DC voltage is applied at the feeder
end through a series resistor (Cable lines), then the current would vary depending
upon the location of the fault in the cable as the resistance is proportional to the
distance. In case there is a short circuit (Line to Ground), the voltage across series
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resistors changes according to the resistance that changes with distance. This is then
fed to an ADC to develop precise digital data which the programmed microcontroller
of the 8051 family displays in kilometers. [4]
Impedance-based method is widely used in modern protective relays because
of easy implementation. It can be further classified into one-end or two-end
depending on how many terminal voltages and currents are required. One-end
impedance-based method uses the voltage and current captured at one terminal of the
line. It is a straightforward algorithm and requires simple communication channels.
Positive-sequence-reactance method calculated the apparent impedance seen by one
terminal based on the voltage and current measurements. Fault resistance was
assumed to be zero to simplify the fault location estimation. Therefore, this method
introduces an increasing error as the fault resistance increases. [1]
In this project, Arduino UNO will be used to find faulted phase and the
distance of fault from relay. This project idea resembles with the modern relays like
microprocessor relay, digital relay and fault indicator. In the demonstration model, we
use series resistors as cables. When a 5V DC is applied through series resistor(cables),
the voltage across each resistor would vary depending upon the location of fault.
Depending upon that voltage and resistance changes, Arduino will decide the location
of short circuit fault as written in the program. By implementing this idea in real time,
it has higher efficiency and can provide precise accuracy in determining the location
of fault. However, the capital cost is much higher and qualified technicians are still
trying such kind of fault detection method with Arduino.

2.2. Types of Fault in Power System

The fault in the power system is defined as the defect in the power system due
to which the current is distracted from the intended path. The fault creates the
abnormal condition which reduces the insulation strength between the conductors.
The reduction in insulation causes excessive damage to the system. The fault in the
power system is mainly categorized into two types. They are
1. Open Circuit Fault
2. Short Circuit Fault.

2.1.1 Open Circuit Fault

An open-circuit fault occurs if a circuit is interrupted by some failure. If the
circuit is not closed that is called open circuit fault. This type of fault is better than
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short circuit fault, because when the open circuit fault occurs, then the flow of current
through a cable becomes zero. This fault can be occurred by disruption in conducting
path. Such faults occur when one or more phase conductors break.

Figure 2.1. Types of Open Circuit Fault

2.2.2. Short Circuit Fault

In this type of fault, the conductors of the different phases come into contact
with each other with a power line, power transformer or any other circuit element due
to which the large current flow in one or two phases of the system. The short-circuit
fault is divided into the symmetrical and unsymmetrical fault.

(a) Symmetrical Fault

In symmetrical fault, three phases are short circuited in this type of fault. Since
the three phases are equally affected, the system remains balanced. That is why, this
fault is called a symmetrical or a balanced fault and the fault analysis is done on per
phase basis. The behavior of LLLG fault and LLL fault is identical due to the
balanced nature of the fault. This is a very severe fault that can occur in a system and
if ¯ Zf = 0, this is usually the most severe fault that can occur in a system.
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Fortunately, such faults occur in frequently and only about 5% of the system faults are
three phase faults

Figure 2.2. Types of symmetrical fault

(b) Unsymmetrical Fault

Faults in which the balanced state of the network is disturbed are called
unsymmetrical or unbalanced faults. The most common type of unbalanced fault in a
system is a single line to ground fault (LG fault). Almost 60 to 75% off faults in a
system are LG faults. The other types of unbalanced faults are line to line faults (LL
faults) and double line to ground faults (LLG faults). About 15 to 25% faults are LLG
faults and 5 to 15% are LL faults.

Figure 2.3. Types of unsymmetrical fault

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2.3. Symmetrical Components

Power systems are always analyzed using per-phase representation because of
its simplicity. Balanced three-phase power systems are solved by changing all delta
connections to equivalent wye connections and solving one phase at a time. The
remaining two phases differ from the first by 120°. To analyze an unbalanced system,
the system is transformed into its symmetrical components for per-phase analysis.
Converting a set of unbalanced phasors into sets of balanced components is helpful in
performing fault calculations, power flow studies, and stability studies. They are
represented by +, - and 0 or 1, 2, and 0 for positive, negative and zero sequence
respectively.
1. Positive Sequence:
It consists of three phasors with equal magnitudes and 120° apart from each
other. The phase sequences are in the same order of original phasors.
2. Zero Sequence:
It consists of three phasors with equal magnitudes and zero phase
displacement.
3. Negative Sequence:
It consists of three phasors with equal magnitudes and 120° apart from each
other. The phase sequences are in the opposite order of original phasors.

Ib2
Ic1

Ic2
Ib1

Figure 2.4. Sequence Networks

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Let’s take an arbitrary set of three phasors I a, Ib , and Ic . It can be represented in terms
of nine symmetrical components as follows:
I a = Ia0 + Ia1 + Ia2
I b = Ib0 + Ib1 + Ib2
I c = Ic0 + Ic1 + Ic2

Where Ia0, Ib0, Ic0 are zero sequence set, Ia1, Ib1, Ic1 are positive sequence set and Ia2, Ib2,
Ic2 are negative sequence set. Now to find the nine symmetrical components, taking
/3 = 1∠ 120 °. Multiplying phase sequences I by α gives the magnitude
j2 π
α =e
unchanged but increased the angle by 120 ° which means it rotates I according to the
phase angles.
To find positive sequence components of each phase by using operator;
Ia1 = Ia1
Ib1 = 1∠ 120 °Ia1
Ic1 = 1∠ 240 ° Ia1
To find negative sequence components of each phase by using operator;
Ia2 = Ia2
Ib2 = 1∠ 240 ° Ia2
Ic2 = 1∠ 120 °Ia2
The zero sequence set has equal magnitude phasors with zero phase displacement.
Ia0 = Ib0 = Ic0
In matrix form;

[][ ][ ]
Ia 1 1 1 I a0
I b = 1 1 ∠ 120 ° 1∠ 240° I a1
Ic 1 1 ∠ 240 ° 1∠ 120 ° I a2

2.4. Methods of Fault Distance Calculations

Currently, there are many methods for detecting and estimating faults location in
transmission networks. Some of the commonly used techniques to find fault location
are
1. methods of artificial intelligence
2. travelling wave method
3. impedance based method
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The main idea of this project with Arduino is inspired by the impedance-based
methods that estimate the fault location based on the measured impedance during fault
incidence. So, the detail estimation of impedance method and voltage division based
fault location estimation with Arduino will be discussed below.

2.4.1. Impedance Based Method

Impedance based method uses the value of voltage and current phasors from
installed transducers such as numerical relays and fault recorders. Under this
technique, phasor voltage and current can be taken from both terminals or from single
terminal of a transmission line. Impedance based method is widely used because of its
simplicity and low cost. After calculating the line impedance per unit length, the fault
distance on the line is calculated. To illustrate the principle of one-ended methods,
consider a single-line-to-ground fault is occurred at point F as shown in figure.

Figure 2.5. Single Line Diagram of Transmission Network

The voltage-drop from the sending terminal to the fault location by using symmetrical
components can be expressed as;
VR1 = mZ1IR1 + VF1
VR2 = mZ2IR2 + VF2
VR0 = mZ1IR0 + VF0
The summation of the three equations results in;
VRa = mZ1IR1 + mZ2IR2 + mZ0IR0 + VF1 + VF2 + VF0
Assume, m = the location of distance from relay, Z1 and Z2 are usually equal.
VF = VF1 + VF2 + VF0 = IFRF
From above assumption,
VRa = mZ1 (IRa + kIR0) + IFRF
Z 0−Z 1
Where k=
Z1
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VRa = VR
IR = IRa + kIR0
VR = mZ1IR + IFRF
The apparent reactance measured at the terminal R is obtained by dividing the above
equation by IR,
VR
IR
= mZ1 + RF
IF
IR ( )
To compensate the effect of fault resistance, only the imagery part of equation is
computed.

Im (
VR
IR
)= m. Im ( Z1 ) + Im ( RF ( )
IF
IR
)

After neglecting the real part of impedance, m =

ℑ
( )
VR
IR
X1
Example of step by step calculation process is shown below.

66 kV
Bus 1
R

CB

Transmission line
3.72723 +j20.6122

Bus 2

Figure 2.6. One Line Diagram of Proposed Bus

From this network, a single line-to-ground fault at Bus2 will be simulated. The
voltages and currents at Bus1 will be used to represent VR and IR, respectively.
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The parameters of transmission line are,

R1 = 3.72723 ohms
X1 = 20.6122 ohms
R0 = 13.5151 ohms
X0 = 62.0961 ohms
The measured voltage VR at faulted phase from relay = 37.93∠−0.04 kV

The measured current IRa at faulted phase from relay = 1.079∠−78.57 kA

To find IR , IRa = 3IRo

IR = IRa + kIR0 = IRa + ( Z1 )

Z 0 −Z 1 I R 0
3

= 1079∠−78.57 +

[ ]
( 13.5151+ j62.0962 ) −(3.72723− j 20.6122) 1079 ∠−78.57
3.72723+ j 20.6122 3
= 1810.26∠−79.79 A

The location of faulted point from relay, m =

ℑ
( )
VR
IR
X1
37930 ∠−0.04
ℑ( )
m= 1810.26 ∠−79.79
20.6122
m = 1.0003
By multiplying ‘m‘ by the transmission line length of 50 km, we can get the estimated
fault location of 50.02 km.

2.5. Ohm's law

Ohm's law states that the voltage (V) across a resistor is proportional to the
current (I), where the constant of proportionality is the resistance (R). For example, if
a 300-ohm resistor is attached across the terminals of a 12-volt battery, then a current
of 12 / 300 = 0.04 amperes flows through that resistor.
Power - the rate of change at which the energy is transformed, i.e. the change in
energy per second. A current is number of coulombs per second flowing through a
circuit and the voltage is a measure of energy per coulomb. By multiplying the
voltage and the current, we have
= coulombs/seconds x joules/coulomb
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= joules/second
= Power
This is energy per second which we call power. So, we can say that in case of
short circuit and fault conditions, current increases to the higher value and voltage
decrease as power is constant from the generation station.
2.5.1. Relationship between resistance of cable and its length
The resistance of a wire is a measure of how much the wire resists the flow of
electric current through it. The resistance of a wire is directly proportional to its
length and inversely proportional to it cross-sectional area. This relationship is known
as Ohm’s Law which states that the current through a conductor between two points is
directly proportional to the voltage across the two points. When a wire is made longer,
its resistance increases because there is more wire for the current to flow through,
which increases the likelihood of collisions between the electrons and the atoms in the
wire. Conversely, when a wire’s cross-sectional area is increased, its resistance
decreases because there is more space for the electrons to flow through, which
reduces the likelihood of collisions.
R=ρL/A
ρ is the resistivity of a material which is a measure of how strongly it opposes the
flow of electric current. The resistivity of the material depends on the factors such as
its temperature, composition and impurities.

2.5.2. Voltage Divider Rule

In a circuit, when a number of elements are connected in series, input voltage
divides across the elements. And in a circuit, when a number of elements are
connected in parallel, the current divides across the elements. Therefore, in a parallel
circuit, the current divider rule is used. In the series circuit, the voltage divider rule is
used to analyze and solve the circuit. When two or more impedances are connected in
series, the input voltage is divided into all impedances. To calculate the voltage across
each element, the voltage divider rule is used. The voltage divider rule is the most
important and simple rule in circuit analysis to calculate the individual voltage of any
elements. The voltage divider rule is also known as the potential divider rule. In some
conditions, we require specific output voltage. But we don’t have that specific value
of the source. In this condition, we make a series of passive elements and reduce the
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voltage level to a specific value. The below circuit shows the voltage divider between
the four resistors which is directly proportional to their resistance.

Figure 2.7. Equivalent Circuit

V1(t)= V(t) [ R1/R1+R2+R3+R4]

V2(t)= V(t) [ R2/R1+R2+R3+R4]

V3(t)= V(t) [ R3/R1+R2+R3+R4]

V4(t)= V(t) [ R4/R1+R2+R3+R4]

Kirchhoff's Voltage Law states that the summation of the voltage drops around
a circuit must equate to the total sum of the voltage around the circuit or the voltage
supply for the circuit. This directly relates to the Voltage Divider Rule, where a
voltage divider circuit divides the total voltage around a circuit.