3/8/2021 Fault analysis in power systems

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Fault Analysis in Power

Systems
fault analysis open circuit faults short circuit faults symmetrical and
unsymmetrical faults types of faults Jul 10, 2019

Usually, a power system operates under balanced conditions with all

equipment's carrying normal load currents and also the bus voltages
inside the prescribed limits. This condition can be disrupted because of
fault within the system. If the electrical fault current exceeds the
interrupting rating of the protective device, the consequences can be
devastating. It can be a serious threat to human life and is capable of
causing injury, extensive equipment damage.

Short circuit fault current is many times larger than the normal current. A
short circuit is simply a low resistance connection between the two
conductors supplying electrical power to any circuit. This results in

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excessive amount of current flow in the power systems through the path
of low resistance and may even cause the power source to be destroyed
and causes more heat and fires.

The fault analysis of a power system is needed in order to provide

information for the choice of switch-gear, size of conductors, setting of
relays, finding the rating requirements of other power equipment and
confirming system stability. All the equipment must be chosen to work
with the fault current that sometimes flows in great quantity.
At AllumiaX, our goal is to interrupt the fault current as early as possible
with minimum disruption to upstream devices by achieving good
coordination between protective devices and precise trip settings.

Types of Faults in Power System

The faults in the power system are mainly categorized into two types:

1. Open Circuit Fault

2. Short Circuit Fault

1. Open Circuit Fault:

The open circuit fault happens due to the failure of one or two
conductors. These faults take place in series with the line so referred as
series fault. Such types of faults have a strong impact on the reliability of
the system. The open circuit fault is classified as:

Open Conductor Fault

Two conductors Open Fault
Three conductors Open Fault

2. Short Circuit Fault:

The short-circuit fault is commonly divided into symmetrical and
asymmetrical types. These faults are further categorized as one of five
types. In order of frequency of occurrence, they are:

Asymmetrical Faults:
Asymmetrical faults mandate the calculation of positive negative and
zero sequence components separately.

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Single Line to Ground Fault: This type of fault occurs when you have
one of the phases (A, B or C) is shorted with the ground.

Line to Line Fault: This type of fault occurs when you have one of the
phases (A, B or C) is shorted with the ground.

Double Line to Ground Fault: This type of fault occurs when two phases
are shorted with the ground together (A-B-G, B-C-G or C-A-G)

Symmetrical Faults:
Symmetrical faults do not give rise to zero sequence or negative
sequence components because they are perfectly balanced, symmetrical
faults only have positive sequence values.

Three Phase Line to Ground Fault: The 3-phase to ground faults are
faults in where all the phases (A, B and C) are shorted together and they
are grounded.

Three Phase Line to Line Fault: The three phase faults occur when you
have A, B and C phases are shorted together but ground is not involved.

Hello there! On a related topic, we previously wrote a blog

about Symmetrical Components. If this peaks your interest, check
it out and let us know what you think

Steps to perform a Fault Analysis in

a Power System:
Here, we will outline 7 steps required in order to perform a fault analysis
in a power system for a given fault.

1. Converting the System to Base Values: Convert the system to the

per-unit system, based on the same base value.

2. Type of Fault: Identify the type of fault that is being analyzed.

3. Constructing Sequence Networks: Draw the sequence networks for

each of the positive negative and zero sequence networks from the
system that was converted in step 1.

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4. Make a Faulted Sequence Network Diagram: Take the un-faulted

sequence networks and modify and interconnect them according to the
type of fault to make a faulted sequence network diagram.

5. Hand Calculation: Hand calculate the sequence currents and voltage

quantities during a faulted condition.

6. Convert per unit value into three phase current and voltage
quantities: Convert the per unit values that we calculated in step 5 into
three phase current and voltage quantities that can be actually used and
understood intuitively.

7. Fault calculation on LV side of the transformer: Calculating the fault

that occurs on the low voltage side of the transformer.

Causes of Power System Faults

Weather Conditions
The weather factors that typically cause power system faults are:
lightning strikes, accumulation of snow on transmission lines, heavy
rains, high speed winds, earthquake, salt pollution depositing on
overhead lines and conductors, floods and fires adjacent to electrical
instrument, etc. These environmental conditions interrupt the power
supply and also damage electrical installations.

Equipment Failures
Electrical equipment's like machines, motors, generators, transformers,
cables, reactors, switch devices, etc. causes electrical faults. These faults
may be caused due to malfunctioning, ageing and degradation,
insulation failure of cables and winding, breakdown due to high
switching. These failures lead to high current to flow through the devices
or equipment which further damages it.

Human Errors
Electrical faults are also caused due to human errors like choosing
improper rating of equipment or devices, forgetting metallic or electrical
conducting components once coupling or maintenance, switching the
circuit while its below servicing, etc. A classic example is one wherever
maintenance staffs unwittingly leave isolated instrument connected

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through safety earth clamps once maintenance work is completed. A

three-phase to earth short-circuit fault occurs when the equipment is re
energized to return it to service.

Smoke of Fires
The smoke of fires under overhead lines consists of tiny particles results
in spark between the lines or between conductors to insulator. This arc
causes insulators to lose their insulting capability because of high
voltages. The hot air in the flames of a fire has a much lower insulation
strength than air at close temperature.

“ One of AllumiaX's recent initiatives is a corporate

sponsorship for the GeneralPAC platform which provides

tutorials for power systems protection, automation and
controls. Here, you will find the video series of fault analysis in
power system. In this series they will be going over the analysis
of various types of faults that occur in power systems and at
the same time intuitively understanding the hand calculations
involved.

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